Brief
What happens to children when their parent is released from jail or prison? The answers vary. It depends in part, on the quality of the attachment to that parent before and during incarceration.(Adalist-Estrin, 1993) Another factor is the extent of the trauma created by the parent’s offense, arrest, and imprisonment. (Johnston, 1992)
The child’s adjustment to a parent’s parole is also significantly related to the presence and quality of protective factors and support systems that were available during the incarceration period and upon release. (Gaynes, 1994, Johnston, 1993) Finally…
Tougher penalties for juvenile offenders and the disproportionate imprisonment of African American and Latino young men have resulted in an increase in the number of incarcerated fathers. Approximately one-quarter of all young men sentenced to juvenile facilities in California are fathers, a trend that has serious implications for the families of the men and society as incarceration reduces family income and interferes in a father's ability to provide emotional support to his children and their mother. This study examined the issues of fathering from prison, young fathers as parolees, and the…
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In Colorado, it is estimated that 15,500 children currently have a parent in prison. A much larger number have experienced the incarceration of a parent at some point in their lives. Serving time in prison does not mean that you have lost your right to make decisions about the care of your children or that your relationships with your children have become any less important. This manual gives parents ways to keep their family together behind the wall as well as help them to understand the importance of dealing with custody issues. (Author abstract, modified).
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Journal Article Drawing upon data from the What About Fathers study, a qualitative in-depth interview study with 510 low-income noncustodial fathers in three U.S. cities, Kathryn Edin, Timothy Nelson, and Rechelle Paranal, in their Institute for Policy Research working paper, Fatherhood and Incarceration as Potential Turning Points in the Criminal Careers of Unskilled Men, examine the effect of incarceration on men's involvement with their children, as well as the effect of fatherhood on their criminal careers. (Author abstract)
Unpublished Paper
The United States greatly expanded the use of incarceration as a criminal sanction during the last three decades. Researchers have begun to examine the effects of incarceration on the socioeconomic outcomes of people who have spent time behind bars. This study uses data collected for the Fragile Families Study to examine the effects of incarceration on earnings, employment, marriage and cohabitation for a cohort of new fathers in Oakland, California and Austin, Texas. We examine the extent to which the disruptive features of incarceration retard and impede the development and accumulation of…
The U.S. Administration for Children and Families (ACF), with support from the Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network, sponsored the Uniting Incarcerated Parents and their Families workshop on May 21-22, 2002, in Orlando, FL. Participants included representatives from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), corrections staff, and child care staff from the following States: Alabama, Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana. The purpose of this 2-day seminar was two fold: to provide participants with an opportunity to understand how TANF agencies and corrections staff can work…
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Journal Article Almost 2 million children in the United States today have fathers who are in prison. Many of these children havebeen traumatized by the imprisonment of their fathers, and they continue to be emotionally, economically, and socially scarred because of the incarceration. Without intervention, children of incarcerated fathers are five times more likely than other children to become incarcerated themselves. Social workers need to address the children s feelings about their fathers, and help them cope with the trauma and emotional upset caused by their fathers incarceration. The mothers and…
Data was used from the 1997 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities to investigate risk factors that are present in the lives of incarcerated parents and their children, and how these differentially relate to children's living arrangements. The final sample for the study included 6,870 fathers and 2,047 mothers who were incarcerated in State or Federal prison in 1997. Results indicate children are increasingly likely to be placed with someone other than a parent, and are particularly likely to be placed in foster or agency care, as the number of risk factors rises. The…
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The conference summary report synthesizes key aspects of the Prisons to Home project including the state symposium discussions, conference plenary and break-out sessions, and the research papers developed for the conference. The report is not a complete record of the conference presentations, rather, it captures the common themes and salient tensions that emerged and their implications for children, families, and communities. Presented research and the subsequent discussions identified children, families, and former prisoners who have experienced incarceration as a group at high risk for…
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Our goal in this paper is to examine the impact of parental incarceration on children's well-being and development, and determine just what is happening to these children.
